Mayor Brown receives humanitarian service award

Steve Frey
Contributing writer

Monday’s Radford City Council meeting was highlighted by recognition for the contributions to the citizens of the city by three outgoing members: Mayor Bruce Brown, who served 16 years, the last eight as mayor; Councilman Keith Marshall, who served eight years and Councilman Michael Turk, who has been on the council for four years.

Additionally, Mayor Bruce Brown was presented the Robert Allen “Big Al” Hall Humanitarian Service Above Citizenship Award in a special resolution read by Vice-Mayor Richard Harshberger.

The award “recognizes unsung heroes that contribute to making the City of Radford a better place.”

It goes on to say that “a humanitarian is recognized as one who extends benevolence and kindness, by putting others before one’s self.”

The resolution included many of the various accomplishments made during Brown’s tenure on the council including the Fourth of July Spirit of America Celebration, the Second Avenue Project, the Radford Transit, the Public Safety Building, and Techlab Industries.

It emphasized Brown’s “Bobcat Pride” and the fact that he can often be found at Radford City Public School events.

The resolution continues by stating that Brown “has been a timeless cheerleader, advocate and ambassador for the City of Radford, promoting the city with every opportunity.”

“This is very meaningful to me because it reflects somebody (Hall) that never wanted recognition,” Brown said. “To be put in his framework is pretty special.”

Brown continued, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart and to all of you, that’s very, very special to me.”

Mayor Brown congratulated councilmen Keith Marshall and Michael Turk for their many years on the council. Brown said that they should be recognized for “their leadership, their dedication and their service to the citizens of Radford.”

He presented each councilman with a special plaque to thank them for their service. Vice-Mayor Dick Harshberger also presented a plaque to Mayor Brown acknowledging his leadership and many contributions to the city.

Later in the meeting, Harshberger thanked the outgoing mayor and council members again for all they have achieved.

He listed some “factoids” about the council’s accomplishments: the city having the number one water quality in the Commonwealth of Virginia; the separation of the stormwater and sewer systems; the paid fire department; an education program that is one of the best in the state, adding that 100 person of the seniors graduated this year and that a large percentage go on to college or the military; the great programs for early childhood development; and the excellent, re-accredited police department.

He ended by saying, “You’re leaving us in good shape guys. You really are. Thank you.”

To the outgoing members, Councilman Rob Gropman said, “Mick, Keith, and Bruce—it’s been an honor, privilege, and a pleasure. Thank you.”

“It’s been an honor and privilege serving,” said Councilman Michael Turk.

Councilman Keith Marshall said, “It’s always an honor. I appreciate the privilege the citizens gave me, and I wish the citizens the best.”

After the meeting, when asked what has meant the most to him as mayor, Brown said, “My greatest accomplishment is (that) I think I helped build a culture in this council and in this city administration of inclusiveness, appreciation, of value, and that they make a difference, because I don’t think that existed.

The services that we provide are people services…I’m a firm believer that the climate and culture drive performance and commitment and that if you are going to get stuff done, it takes that…We’re going to have an employee picnic on the 19th that will reward 485 years of service to this community. It’s [those] stories that don’t get written.”

Other news:

The Radford City Police Department has been re-accredited by the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission. Martinsville Sheriff Steve M. Draper, one of the commissioners, presented Radford City Police Chief Don Goodman with a special certificate recognizing the honor.

Sheriff Draper stated that a police agency has to be in compliance with 190 professional standards in various areas to be accredited. He emphasized that “it is not just saying that you will meet the standards but actually doing what you have said that you will do.”

He said that the attainment of accreditation by a law enforcement agency has many advantages including instilling confidence in the public in the agency and ensuring government entities that oversee the police that they are in compliance with state of the art policies and procedures.

This is the Radford City Police Department’s fourth time being accredited or re-accreditation.

Police Chief Don Goodman said, “this is an award about the men and women that work for us; who work quite frankly for you and this community.” He went on to say that the members of the police force “put it on the line each and every day. They don’t know any different than meeting high standards.”

“On behalf of the department, we’re grateful to receive this award, and we will continue to strive to meet these standards, no, not just meet them but exceed them at a high level,” Goodman added.

The council proclaimed June 17, 2018-June 23, 2018 as “Relay for Life Days” in Radford City. The proclamation encourages everyone to get involved in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life fundraising event at the Motor Mile Speedway on June 23.

The proclamation stated that “Relay for Life of Radford City and Pulaski County stands shoulder to shoulder with cancer patients and those supporting them to help fight and beat cancer on every front.”

Mayor Brown commented that he was a “poster child” for this program, as he has battled cancer several times over the years.

Helen Reed from the Radford-Pulaski Relay for Life committee shared with the council that the Relay will be from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

She also said, “This is something that I’m very passionate about. I’ve lost several family members to cancer; I’ve lost a lot of patients to cancer being a nurse for thirty-some years. I’ve been touched by it forever and a day…so I really want to get rid of it.”

She encouraged everyone to come out, adding that there will be a “ton of entertainment” and that it should be a lot of fun.

“Just come out and walk and see what it’s really all about. You’ll get caught up in it, and you’ll come back,” Reed said.

There was a public hearing concerning encumbrances and carrying over funds for the new fiscal year. The amount involved was $2,114,345. There were no comments for the council from the public.

During the citizen comments time, Jim Graham spoke about the Radford Community Garden. He thanked the council, and especially those leaving the group, for all of their support over the years. He stated that they have 42 plots this year and that this is the eighth year for the community garden.

The council unanimously approved three ordinances as consent items. They included the encumbrances from the public hearing, an appropriation for the solid waste fund of $13,975, and $39,902 for the Highway Maintenance Fund.

City Manager David Ridpath said, “The two things, the solid waste and highway maintenance—we are pleased that both those turned out well, and we got a little extra money there to put back in reserves.”

The council approved the Assignment of Rights to the Governor’s Opportunity Fund. It involved money the state had given to Virginia Castings Inc. for economic development. The money invested will be pursued through the attorney general’s office and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority for benchmarks the state felt were not met. The city council approved the assignment of rights unanimously.

City Manager Ridpath mentioned in his remarks that the Spring Jubilee for various Virginia High School League sports was a big success. He thanked the recreation department, Radford University, the maintenance department and everyone involved.

He shared that the July 4th celebration is coming up. Ridpath said some event times have been changed (for example, the fireworks have been moved up a half hour.), so check the website. The city is also looking for a permanent location for a drop center for all items.

Ridpath also thanked the mayor and council members who are leaving on behalf of all city employees. He said, “When you look back over four years, eight years, 16 years, a lot of things have occurred to the benefit of our community and our citizens, and I think everybody works together in the benefit of all in the end. So we do appreciate all you all have done for our community.”

At the last meeting, the city council approved the “concept and location” of a “hometown heroes” area at the Glencoe Museum with more specifics (for example, a possible committee to decide on people to be identified and a possible foundation to appropriately collect money.) to be discussed at a future meeting.

The mayor said that because of issues with appropriations so late in the fiscal year, it would be better to wait until after the new board and budget are in place to further discuss moving forward.

The mayor mentioned that $3300 has been collected from individuals thus far for the project.

At the end of the meeting, the council and audience viewed a video about the “Buddy Bench,” which encourages friendships among children and fights bullying. The mayor said the city is exploring possible places for placement around the city.

Prior to the regular city council meeting, members held a work session to discuss downtown Radford parking and the possibility of implementing a parking meter system there. Gropman has researched various municipalities and meter systems and shared information with the council.

Gropman mentioned that Blacksburg, for example, gets revenues of $271,000 over a 12-month period from metered parking.

Fines in Blacksburg collected from January 1 to June 4, 2018, amounted to $36,000. During the time that Virginia Tech was out of session, May 15 to August 2017, they collected $29,000 in fines.

Incoming Mayor David Horton, who was invited to sit in on the work session, said he felt this was “part of a bigger discussion” about Main Street, about not only parking, but the overall vision of what downtown will look like.

The consensus of the council was to do a “Beta” test, depending on cost, in a small area, perhaps around Tyler and Clement Streets, and have a task force of citizens, council members, chamber of commerce members and downtown merchants analyze the results to determine feasibility and the next steps forward for downtown.